McGee trotted down the stairs, and was surprised when he learned that he wasn't the first one up.
"Morning, McGee." Gibbs said. McGee poured himself a cup of coffee and sat down at the table.
"Morning, boss." Gibbs was sipping on his coffee and reading the paper. In order to kill the dead silence, he spoke again. "How did...uh...How did you sleep?"
"Fine." Gibbs said. McGee nodded.
"At least one of us did."
"Not liking your roommate there, Tim?" Gibbs asked, he couldn't help the smirk that came across his lips. McGee was about to speak again when he was interrupted by perky Abby.
"Morning boys!" She said. She got herself a piece of toast and sat down. It was silent again and Abby couldn't help but notice that McGee was unusually smiley this morning. "McGee, what is wrong with you?"
"Nothing." McGee shrugged. The three of them heard the bathroom door close and they turned their attention to the top of the stairs. Ziva was descending them. Abby returned to her toast, while Gibbs and McGee let their chins hit the table.
There stood Mossad Liaison Officer Ziva David, in a light purple nightgown, with lace that traced her breasts. It came to a stop right after her thighs, leaving her long legs completely naked. Her hair was still straight, except for the ends that curled slightly. Abby looked at them and laughed.
"Will you two close your mouths? You look like fish!" Ziva was now in the kitchen, fixing herself a cup of tea.
"Ziver..." Gibbs mumbled. She looked up at him and smiled.
"Good morning Gibbs." She said.
"What are you wearing?" He asked. She looked down and examined herself.
"A nightgown." She replied. Gibbs blinked a couple of times again and returned to his paper.
"Ok." He said. Ziva looked at Abby and McGee, who were both grinning like idiots. She shook her head and joined them at the table. Several minutes later, a still half asleep, bed hair, shirtless Tony came stumbling down the stairs. He walked into the kitchen and mumbled something that sounded like 'morning'. He walked over to the table and let his head fall on his arms. He stayed like that until he heard Ziva's voice.
"Rough night, Tony?" She asked. He popped his head up and looked at her, and suddenly, he was wide awake. He tried to speak, he really did, but he couldn't. He continued to stare at her, she looked absolutely gorgeous. Gibbs, who was silent, startled the four when he suddenly stood up, slamming the paper down on the table.
"This is not coffee. I'm going for something good." And with that, he was gone.
"Uh...Tony? I made some toast, would you like a slice?" Abby asked, sliding the plate towards him. He looked down at the plate and then up at Abby.
"Sure." He finally said. He picked out the grape jelly and put some on his toast, then he let his eyes slide back up to Ziva, who was peacefully drinking her tea and reading that damn book. He didn't realize that now he was applying grape jelly to his thumb. Abby saw it first and started laughing. She tapped McGee on the arm and pointed to Tony, and he also began to laugh. Tony was unfazed. He continued to apply jelly to his thumb, staring at Ziva, who was also unfazed.
"Um...Tony." Nope. Still unfazed. McGee tried again. "Tonyyy." He said, dragging out his name. "DiNozzo!" That worked. He looked at the probie.
"What, McGee?" He asked.
"That's not your color."
"What?" McGee then pointed to Tony's jellied thumb. Tony grabbed a napkin, as all of them, even Ziva put down her book, were laughing at him. He chuckled nervously. "Very funny." He said. For some reason, McGee found Tony's jellied thumb incredibly funny. He continued to laugh hysterically. "Stuff it, McLaugh." Tony said.
"I wish you would stuff it when you go to bed, Tony." Tony was still trying to get the jelly off of his thumb, so he didn't look up.
"What? Probie couldn't sleep?" It was Tony's turn to laugh. McGee reached into his pocket and pulled out his iPhone.
"No, Tony, I couldn't." Abby and Ziva were now looking at him.
"What is that?" Tony asked.
"I was going to save this for later, but you leave me no choice." McGee pressed play on his phone, and laid it in the middle of the table. Ziva snapped her head up. That was his voice. Moaning and pleading her name. She felt her mouth fall open. She closed it quickly, swallowed hard, and returned to her book, as if the phone in the middle of the table wasn't making a sound.
Tony laughed. "That's not me." He said. "Zivaaa....oh god Ziva...right there...Ziiiivvaaa..." Abby smiled.
"Tony...that's you." She then looked over at Ziva, who was only reading her book, pretending that Tony wasn't moaning her name.
"No it's not!"
"I can run voice recognition when we get back if you want." McGee said through his laughing and looked Tony dead in the eye.
"Paybacks a bitch, DiNozzo." He said. Tony rolled up his fists into tight balls, and then grabbed McGee's phone off of the table, stuffing it in his pockets.
"You're a dead man, McGee." He said through gritted teeth, and then stormed up the stairs, slamming the room door behind him. Ziva was next to get up, slowly climbing the stairs, going into her own room. Abby then looked at McGee.
"You really think that was the best thing to do, Tim?" McGee shook his head.
"No Abs, it wasn't. He took my phone."
McGee sat on the couch flipping channels on the television, occasionally looking up at the door Tony slammed two hours ago. He briefly wondered if Tony was taking his phone apart, piece by piece. He hoped not, because putting that iPhone back together would take him a very long time. Abby came and sat down beside him.
"Have you seen Tony?" She asked quietly. McGee only shook his head. He looked out at Gibbs, who was sitting on the porch drinking good coffee. He turned back to Abby.
"Nope. Not a word. I think that's the quietest Tony's ever been. Even when he was on that ship, I still heard his voice." He then began to chuckle. "Hey look, Penguins!" McGee said, pointing at the TV. Abby still stared up the stairs, at the doors.
"I'm going up to talk to them." She announced. She climbed the stairs and knocked on Ziva's door, deciding that angry Tony would be easier after Ziva. She knocked softly and then remembered that it was her room too. And unless Tony and Ziva were doing the horizontal tango, she had every right to walk in there. She started to turn the doorknob, but then stopped.
Maybe she should check and see if they were doing the horizontal tango. She pressed her ear on the door and listened for a couple of seconds. Nope, no moaning. The coast was clear. She slowly turned the knob and opened the door. Ziva lay on her bed, reading her book.
Ziva looked up at the goth and put on a fake smile. "Hey Abby." She said, and then returned to her book.
"Hey Ziva..." She started, and then walked over to her. "You ok?" Ziva looked up at her.
"I am fine." She said.
"So...what happened this morning...that didn't...bother you?" She asked.
"No." Ziva said, shaking her head.
"It would bother me." Abby said. She then became excited, "Oh my god! It doesn't bother you because that's what you wanted to happen isn't it?" Ziva laughed.
"No, Abby. We all have dreams." She replied.
"But Tony's dreaming about you, Ziva." She sat down on the bed, "And it didn't sound like you were sitting in a park having a chat. It sounded like you were..."
"I know, Abby." Ziva interrupted. "But it does not matter." Abby shrugged, defeated.
"Ok." She said. "Um, Gibbs said something about renting a boat, and he wants us all to be downstairs in an hour." Abby turned and started to leave the room, when she turned around, back to the Israeli. "And wear that black bikini with the gold rings. That's Tony's favorite." She said with a smile.
Abby then walked into the hall, and quietly knocked on Tony's door. "Tony?" She said. No answer. "Tony..." She said again. She slowly turned the knob and opened the door. "Hey Tony." She said quietly. She studied the federal agent, he was only laying on his bed, in the same outfit, except now, he had a shirt on. "You ok?"
"I'm fine, Abby." He snapped. He didn't remove his stare from the ceiling. Abby sat down on McGee's bed and stared at him.
"You don't look fine, Tony." Tony let out a sigh.
"I'm fine, Abby." He repeated. Abby pressed her lips together and thought for a moment.
"Ziva's not fine." She finally said. Tony sat up and looked at the goth.
"What do you mean?" Tony asked.
"She's upset that McGee made you upset and that you're upset about the recording." Abby replied. Tony chuckled and ran a hand through his hair.
"I'm gonna need a translator."
"You should talk to her." Abby said. She walked over to him and placed a hand on his shoulder. "And...you should talk to McGee." Tony glared up at her. "Ok, maybe not. Gibbs wants us all downstairs in an hour. He wanted to...rent a boat." She said. She left the room and went downstairs.
Not wanting to argue with Gibbs, Tony got ready, putting on his swimsuit and a t-shirt, meeting the rest down stairs. He glared at McGee, and it took all that he had not to lunge at the junior agent. Ziva was purposely not looking at Tony, and he occasionally glanced up at her. Gibbs, who was driving, watched his agents. Ziva sat in the passenger seat, not saying a word. McGee was behind him looking at Tony, who was behind Ziva, with Abby in the middle. Abby kept looking at Tony, and then she'd look at McGee. Gibbs rolled his eyes and spoke, making all 5 of them jump slightly.
"Anything I should know about?" He asked. Nobody dared to speak. Gibbs chuckled sarcastically. "Fix it, or we're on the next flight back to DC." He said. They finally pulled up to the marina, and they all got out. Tony glared at McGee a couple of more times, but kept his cool. Once the boat was rented, Abby and McGee were the first two on, followed by Gibbs. Tony started to climb the ladder, but he stopped when he felt Ziva's hand on his. He got off the ladder and stared at her.
"Tony, was any of it real?" She asked quietly. Tony narrowed his eyes at her in confusion, and then started to climb the ladder again. Ziva sighed and grabbed his hand again.
He got on the sand and then looked up at his boss' voice. "DiNozzo, David, get up here!" He yelled.
"Was any of what real, Ziva?" He asked.
"The recording, at breakfast this morning. Was. It. Real?" She asked him again.
"Ziva I..."
"No, Tony. Do not lie. You tell me the honest truth. I will not tell anyone, if that is what you are worried about." He looked her dead in the eyes again, and let out a sigh.
"Yes." He said, and quickly went up the ladder. She followed and sat as far as she could away from Tony.
Out on the water, the boat was stopped and Abby and Ziva took that opportunity to lay out on the bow. McGee was in the control room, doing McGee things, Tony was as far away from Ziva and McGee as one person could be, and Gibbs stood on the deck, drinking coffee and looking out into the ocean. A few boats passed, and the men just happened to be on deck, staring at Ziva and Abby. Tony narrowed his eyes at the bastards, but assumed that there was nothing he could do to them. Another 20 minutes passed and boat Gibbs was joined with another boat. Tony recognized it as one who passed, but then they came back, and now were stopped beside them.
"Hey sweetie, what's your name?" Said one guy. Tony immediately stood up and walked over, along with Gibbs. Ziva sat up on her elbows and smiled, and Abby just ignored them. Ziva opened her mouth to speak until she saw Tony walk in front of her.
"My name's Tony, darling." He said.
"Thanks for the information, but I was talking about that hottie behind you."
"I really don't give a damn who you were talking about. Leave." The guy took another swig of his beer and laughed, along with his buddies. He opened his arms and looked around.
"Hey dude. This is the ocean. You can't tell me to leave." Tony gritted his teeth together and reached on his right for his SIG, and was deeply disappointed when he remembered he was in his swimsuit and he didn't have his gun. Gibbs took this opportunity to speak.
"Tony, go." He said, putting his hand on the senior field agent's shoulder. Tony looked at him.
"Yeah papa, get her boyfriend out of here! Sweetie, you and your tattooed friend come over here and I show you a real man!" They all laughed. Tony, who stood behind Gibbs was at his boiling point. Gibbs laughed and pulled his gun out of it's holster. The laughing immediately stopped and they backed up with their hands in the air. Tony studied his boss. He, too, was in shorts and a t-shirt. Where in the hell did he have that gun? The enemy boat was on the move in minutes and Tony patted Gibbs on the shoulder.
"Nice job, boss!" Ziva only rolled her eyes and laid back down.
"DiNozzo." Tony looked at him.
"Yes?"
"Shut up." Gibbs said. He holstered his gun and returned to the deck. Tony looked at Ziva, all of Ziva, and then followed him. Ziva sat up again and watched him. She shook her head and let out a sigh.
"Ok boss, but I have a question."
"I have an answer." Gibbs replied.
"Where did you pull that gun from?"
"You don't want to know, DiNozzo." Gibbs replied. Tony raised an eyebrow. "Let's just say, that if you tried to touch my gun, I would've kicked your ass." He took a sip of his coffee.
"Got it boss." Tony said. He leaned on the rail of the boat and stared at the ocean. He couldn't stop thinking about what Ziva asked him. Why does she care? He let out a sigh and then looked over at her. Then, he couldn't stop looking at her. Her straightened hair was blowing in the wind, and she was wearing that black bikini like in the photo he stared at for several months, driving him even more insane.
"DiNozzo." Gibbs said harshly, snapping Tony out of his trance.
"Yeah boss?"
"Shut your mouth." Tony looked at him.
"I didn't say anything!" He defended.
"Then why are you drooling?" Tony wiped his mouth quickly and then let out a sigh. Gibbs promptly smacked him. "Snap out of it." He warned. Tony nodded. Gibbs was right. He needed to snap out of it.
Abby looked over at Tony, who was staring at Ziva, and laughed. "Is something funny, Abby?" Ziva asked her.
"Yes, the fact that you two are completely oblivious that you're in love with each other." Ziva laughed and put her sunglasses on top of her head.
"Abby, Tony is not in love with me." Ziva said. "Tony has never been in love, and I don't think he'll ever be in love."
"What about that girl?"
"What girl?" Ziva asked quickly. Abby grinned. "Oh, you mean Jeanne. That was all a lie Abby. That does not count."
"Rightt..." She said and stood up. She went down into the cabin, and returned with a big grin. "Hey, come look!" She said happily. Gibbs, Tony, McGee, and Ziva all went down with her. She opened a closet, and pointed. There was several fishing poles and water skii's sitting inside.
"Yeah!" Gibbs said, grabbing one of the poles, "Now we can all fish!" Tony and McGee looked at him.
"I think she was talking about the water skii's, boss." McGee replied. Gibbs then looked at Abby, who nodded.
"Oh." Gibbs said in dissapointment. Abby grabbed his arm and jumped.
"Come on Gibbs! It'll be fun!" She said.
"It will not be fun." Gibbs replied. Abby rolled her eyes and scoffed.
"Building a boat is not fun. Water skiing is." Gibbs looked at Abby, then at Ziva, then at McGee, and then at Tony.
"Fine." He said.
"Yes!" Abby squealed. She kissed Gibbs on the cheek and grabbed them, running up to the deck.
After Abby, McGee, Tony, and Gibbs, who took extra convincing, had a turn, Ziva was next.
"DiNozzo!" Tony jogged over to Gibbs.
"Yeah boss?" He asked.
"Take over. I've gotta make a phone call." Gibbs said.
"Ok." Tony replied and took the wheel.
"Oh come on Ziva, you've got to do it. It'll be fun! Even Gibbs liked it." Abby begged. Ziva finally gave in and prepared for the ride. Abby and McGee watched her. "Hey Timmy." McGee looked up at her. "You should go and apologize to Tony."
"What? No!" McGee replied.
"Timothy, Tony is very upset with you. And I don't like it."
"Abs, he wants to kill me right now. I don't think now is a good time."
"Anytime is a good time to apologize, Tim." Abby replied. McGee let out a sigh and looked up at Tony, who was standing at the wheel.
"Ok, fine." McGee replied and climbed the ladder to the cockpit. He took in a deep breath and then braced himself for what was coming towards him...complete and utter screaming. He knew that Tony was upset, but he couldn't possibly show much anger and frustration in front of Ziva, would he? He glanced over at the Israeli, who was now getting situated on the water skiis, Abby and Gibbs helping her. Tony watched and then narrowed his eyes for just a fraction of a second, turning away, looking forwards, "Tony..."
"McGee." He spat, not turning to look at him.
"Look....about this morning."
"What about this morning, or are you talking about the little incident I was unaware of last night?" he demanded, and Tim sighed again.
"Can I just have my phone back, at least?"
Tony turned on him as he revved the boat forwards, shoving the lever after he saw, in the corner of his eye, Abby give him the thumbs up. Gibbs was nowhere on deck, so Tony figured that he headed to the cabin to make his 'important' phone call, "That's all you care about, is it, McUncaring?" He demanded, scoffing, "You don't even probably care that my relationship with Ziva just bit the dust."
McGee rolled his eyes, "She doesn't hate you. I saw her give you one of those looks today."
"What looks?" He demanded, and McGee just ignored him, pointing to the wheel.
"You mind paying attention to where you're going, DiNozzo?" He asked, and Tony glared at him one more time before turning back to the wheel, turning the boat slightly, to steer clear of a buoy.
"You mind staying out of other people's business', McNosy?" He fired back, revving the engine faster. The boat leaned slightly back as it accelerated with great speed. McGee had to grab onto the railing as he steadied himself. He closed his mouth and eyes tightly, holding slightly onto his stomach as he tried to make the uneasy spell go away. Maybe I should have taken more than four pills today. He briefly thought to himself, and he realized that the bottle was burning a hole in his pocket.
"Look, Tony." McGee sighed deeply, finally finding his feet again on the deck, "You and Ziva are really getting on my nerves. All you two do is dance around each other. I was just trying to make the music stop."
"Well let the song play longer!" He shouted as he pushed the lever forward. The boat was now going as fast as it could. Both McGee and Tony were unaware of the woman who was now getting incredibly nervous on the waterskiis that they were pulling. However, she was never going to admit it. Especially to Tony. Any slight sign of weakness, and he would never leave her alone for the rest of her natural existance.
"If you only knew how she felt, Tony, you wouldn't be upset over her hearing you moan her name in your sleep!"
"You can't prove that's me!"
"You told Ziva that was you. You told her that. What, you lying about her to?"
Tony growled and turned around, leaving the boat unpatrolled for the moment. His hands curled into fists, "Excuse me?!" He narrowed his eyes at him, "Don't you dare compare Jeanne to Ziva."
McGee rolled his eyes, "I'm not saying that. I'm just saying that you need to stop lying. Was that or wasn't that you? I know what I heard. I wasn't dreaming. Just like I wasn't dreaming when I woke up two nights ago and saw the position that you and Ziva were in."
Tony gulped and then let his eyes grow a fiery red, "You better stop McGee!" He shouted, "You stay out of our personal lives! You keep out of our relationship, McDr. Phil!"
"She feels the same way about you too!"
"She ever tell you that? I don't think so. Now who's the liar?" He demanded, taking another step closer to him, "You. Leave. Us. Alone." He growled, slowly pronouncing ever syllable in the words, to make it clear to Tim, "Especially Ziva. You understand me?"
"You can't boss me around, Tony."
"I can do whatever the hell I want!" He shouted, "Now you stay out of it, understand? You don't do this to me, McGee. Ever. I play pranks on you. You play pranks on me, well you know what they say. You mess with the bull, and you get the horns! " He quickly turned around and turned the wheel as hard as he could towards the left. The boat almost flipped as it leaned on one side, making a hard left turn, which ended up being a u-turn.
However, both men were completely angry at each other that they didn't notice Ziva, whos ski hit a rock on the sharp turn, her foot flying out of one of the straps. She let go of the rope she was holding onto as she felt herself fall backwards. Right before she hit the water, she was barely able to control her scream, "TONY!" A large splash followed as the cold water surrounded her body as she felt a large blast of water shoot up her chest. The current was strong; she was being dragged down, for one foot was still caught in the strap. She struggled under the water, the boat still going as fast as it could. She was being shook all over the place, bounced around from wake to wake, the rippled water harsh against her back. She cringed as she was shot up time after time again, breathing solely on whether or not the wave knocked her back up from the boat. At some points, she breathed in water, and she wondered just when it would be that Tony realized she was underwater.
"ZIVA!" Abby shouted in shock as she watched her friend go underwater. She frantically looked around and then up at Tony and McGee, who were still arguing, paying no attention whatsoever to the assassin, "TONY!" Abby shouted as Gibbs came out from the cabin, sticking his cell phone back into his pocket.
"Ziva done?" Gibbs questioned, but then noticed Abby's concerned face, "What-" he started, but it was too late. All of a sudden his senior field agent came shooting past him, faster than he'd ever seen him run, crossing the deck in a speed of nearly a second. The boat was completely motionless, as it came to an abrupt stop, jerking the boss slightly forward in his step. Tony didn't miss a beat as he let his stride grow, jumping on top of the motor in one large step and then diving straight into the water. One thing was running through his head the entire time:
Ziva.